All contents are relevant except for one – – Charlotte Church!
Love it PH! the best!

and wow…first?

I really believe, the Catholic priests (but of course) know the contemptible products of the enlarging population – mothers who have set a trend of dumping off their almost lifeless newborn/aborted babies, children in the streets, children who make a tug at a passerby’s shirt and ask for pennies and children who are situated just at the entrance of churches to sell some goods, instead of spending their precious time in school. These priests are just confused about the dichotomy between their clandestine hypocritical assignations and their social portrayal of a proud and perfect moralist.

there’s much condemnation on the church’s position on reproductive health. pro RH bill advocates face excommunication and we’re talking of birth control pa lang. PH, what is the church’s position (pun intended) on sexual reproduction? missionary lang ba? violators will be excommunicated?

sorry…this time I don;t think your lambasting the church is funny. When people dind “pakiki-alam” to their liking like EDSA 1 & 2, when the church spoke against the administration—that was okay—that was great.

when the church keeps quiet about issues—people also question them.

but when the church speaks about her mandate of being against the contraceptives like the pills and injectibles, which can cause cancer, and the IUD–which is shaped so because it prevents implantation or attachment of a fertilized ovum on the uterus THEN THE CHURCH CAN GO TO HELL at walang pakialam.

What clinical studies are you referring to when you said that contraceptive drugs are carcinogenic? FYI, combined hormonal pills can DECREASE a woman’s risk of cervical and endometrial cancer. They are approved to be safe and effective by FDA and our own BFAD.

I don’t know what’s your point about IUDs but then you are right that it works that way – preventing the implantation of fertilized egg to the uterus. Conception is scientifically a two-phased process: fertilization and implantation. Under certain conditions, a fertilized egg won’t attach to the uterus even if you DIDN’T use IUD or any other contraceptive methods.

“FYI, combined hormonal pills can DECREASE a woman’s risk of cervical and endometrial cancer. They are approved to be safe and effective by FDA and our own BFAD.”

True. As long as they’re registered, they are considered safe and complied with the international standards. Even condoms were being regulated by BFAD (which is now called Philippine FDA, by the way, according to RA9711). Contraceptive and hormonal pills are NOT carcinogenic and abortifacient.

The Church merely rode on popular sentiment in Edsa. It did cozied up with Marcos in the early years. Cardinal Rosales of Cebu was a big fan of Martial Law The struggle against Marcos began even before martial law was declared. Thanks to the blood of countless youths who disappeared, died or were tortured for freedom. But only for Cory to restore oligarchy

I really get pissed when people spew words they have not a clue about. It gets more into my nerves when they PARROT the very LIES the Catholic Church tries to spread.

I bet you also believe that the AIDS virus can pass through “holes” in condoms too. FYI, there was an official Catholic Church campaign in South Africa, documented by the BBC, saying that condoms cannot prevent HIV spread because of holes. An investigation by the WHO found that the holes in the condoms are at the molecular level and no virus known to man can get through. Think about it-how many lives were destroyed by the Catholic Church-an institution that preaches truth-because of this deliberate lie? The end result? The Catholic Church in South Africa now ALLOWS condoms to be used between married couples. Either way, the following are undeniable:
1) The Catholic Church is an institution CAPABLE OF LYING
2) The Catholic Church, instead of helping curb the spread of HIV, HELPED TO SPREAD HIV BY SCARING PEOPLE OFF THE USE OF CONDOMS
3) The Catholic Church, far from being guided by God, is guided by a bunch of HUMAN BEINGS, capable of reversing its decision.

**What mandate are you talking about?

Think about it:

Is it God putting words into the priests’ mouths, or the priests putting words into God’s mouth?

Tamang tapang lang, PH. Love it. I am a devout Catholic. But I am pro-RH Bill. Well, except for some provisions that contain hints of abortion. Anyway, I’m not really going to delve into that matter. What I just wanted to say is, calling for CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE is SO IRRESPONSIBLE. Ang yabang na ng mga religious authorities grabe. FYI, we Catholics know how to think. We were given free will. We try to educate our conscience and it is not limited to whatever the religious authorities tell. And just like the headlines of Philippine Star a couple of days ago, P-Noy is the president of not only Catholics. Separation of State and Church!!!

I have read the original bill (the bill that was pending during the elections) in its entirety and I have found the word abortion in it-that’s true, abortion is mentioned there. But it whenever abortion is mentioned, an idea was tagged with it-it is a crime.

I’m not sure about the new bill forwarded now, but the original on CRIMINALIZED it, but it required doctors to offer help to those who attempted it. When a woman suffers from the effects of abortion it becomes a health problem (Reproductive health, is after all, an integral part of a person’s wellbeing) and they’re supposed to help women who undergo illegal abortion. The part where abortion was approved was when the woman was raped.

Currently, I’m not very militant as I hope PNoy would approve of the bill. If he backs out due to church (actually, it’s just the Catholic Church that’s very rabid about this issue), I’d follow the steps of Celdran or beat his record.

@Kabug…You have a lot of sense in your comments. I appreciate the research you did to substantiate your opinion. Very enlightening! A far cry from “shooting-from-the-hip” commentaries of someone I know. With your exchanges here, parang nag a-argue si Ptolemy at si Willie Revillame. I share your intolerance for twisted logic! :-)

Im not a catholic…but to read this kind of lambasting about them I think they deserve my pity; everybody is entitled to his or her own opinion albeit so are they. This is not procreation or something else…but morality and principle.

tama, it’s not about church being lambasted, these are just opinions emanating from a thinker. i dont think catholicism will crush into ashes because of this blog. it’s your choice to agree and your not force not to agree.

There’s nothing wrong with giving people options. It’s not just about being pro-RH or anti-RH, it’s also about the people’s right to scientific information, which the church has withheld from us for so long.

Not funny this time PH. Unless we all forget, these priests and bishops are Filipino citizens too hence entitled to voice their rejection to this RH Bill… as for the case of documented abuses by priests, I believe it’s a case of exception rather than the prevailing circumstances…. Muslim Motawas commit abuses too….

Did anyone notice, that in spite of the changing times, the church remained vigilant against contraception no matter who the current sitting president? It’s a shame that humans spend enormous funds to discover even a simple sign of life from the distant planets but is adamant to protect the very life that surround us….

Don’t get me wrong, I am not against the posts in this blog, but I feel enormous disservice to my faith if I don’t voice out the opinion from the other side of the fence…

I agree with your sentiments Eagle Eye. I am not a practicing Catholic but I draw the line when I detect that there’s a concerted effort to undermine the Church, which I think is happening now. A lot of sects are riding on the unpopularity of the Church’s stand on the RH bill.

Did you notice that the CBCP has been very active and vocal of its views since Marcos’ time, but only now that these groups are protesting violently against it? Where was this Celdran fellow and his elks when the late Cardinal Sin summon the faithful to go to EDSA and defend the people against the forces of the dictator?

Besides, are we really sure that this bill would solve our population explosion problem? We have family planning programs dating back to Marcos that did not solve the problem.

Cory stopped it, But even under under Ramos, It was not as systematic and well funded as under Marcos. Under GMA, DOH took the program only in her last year. Population management is not only condom distribution. It’s commodities and education.

And oh by the way, let me just point out the hypocrisy of these yellow fanatics who complained of the Church’s meddling in politics. Noynoy was elected president mainly because of the block votes of the INC. Now tell that separation of church and state bullshit to the marines!!!

Priests and bishops are free to voice out their opinion, even rejection of certain government policies. But never should they dictate government on public policies, much more blackmail Catholic government officials with excommunication to make them toe their line. That’s fascism!

It is protecting the very life that surround us which is the raison d’ etre of the RH bill. We need to manage our population, health and economic conditions before the impending population implosion kill us all. It’s an act of self-preservation. It’s a requisite to maintain life. Those who oppose it will lead us to self-destruction…to doom…to hell!

thanks for your very enlightened opinion. then again, p-noy was expressing his. you and p-noy are both bright fellows. problem is, mr. eddi lawrence was expressing his as well and i support his opinion.

for the sake of argument…p-noy was able to banish corruption, we’re left with the issue of population growth and limited resources.

resources are limited. population can be controlled. simple economics would tell you that the bigger the population, the less resources there will be to go around. the smaller the population, the more resources there will be for everyone.

First, the two similar posts above under different names confirmed what I said that you are using several identities to post your comments. Why? To make it appear that there are a lot of “you” agreeing with each other?

Second, “Kung Walang Corrupt, Walang Mahirap” is a campaign slogan by Pnoy, and me bringing that up is like a slap on all your dirty yellow faces, now that he has changed his tune regarding the eradication of poverty through controlling the population. But stupid as you are, you did not get it of course.

Third, even simple arithmetic is too profound for you to fathom. If you subtract the 2M INC (your count) votes from Pnoy and add these votes to Erap, it would increase the votes of the latter by 4M wrt Pnoy’s votes.

I think it is hypocritical of the Church to promote so-called natural forms of family planning but not allow other forms.

If natural forms of preventing conception are acceptable, I don’t see why there’s something wrong with so-called artificial forms. The intention is the same: prevent the sperm from fertilizing the egg. So if the artificial form is reprehensible, the same treatment should be given to artificial forms. Conversely, if one is acceptable, so should be the other.

actually, in natural family planning, like billings’ ovulation method, there is no egg to fertilize during the infertile days of a woman, so technically, no prevention of fertilization. However, church theologians whose opinion were disregarded by Pope Paul VI in his Humanae Vitae praised artificial contraception as a step for people to plan their families better, or something like that. The church’s stand is based on the order of nature that humans should not intervene in the natural process of reproduction. but some people would argue based on order of reason that people also have the capacity to improve the quality of their life through their god-given intelligence.

what’s it to you if i have sex with whoever consents to my advances? will you have less of a sexlife with it? ’bout time people started opening up to the topic of sex. everyone likes it, but no one’s talking about it.

Catholicism in not Bible based. A bunch of rules, made up my man. Prays to Saints, instead of directly to God. And the confession part? How can a mere person (priest) forgive me of my sins? Only God can forgive my sins. Is this the start of the end of Catholicism in the Philippines?

Are you a catholic or an outsider who likes to lambast people who do not belong to your set of beliefs? I don’t know who taught you these but definitely no respectable catechism teaches these assumptions you made.

“Catholicism in not Bible based. A bunch of rules, made up my man. Prays to Saints, instead of directly to God. And the confession part? How can a mere person (priest) forgive me of my sins? Only God can forgive my sins. Is this the start of the end of Catholicism in the Philippines?”

@ kabug and precious read my post above and you will see my stand on RHB. I just took to task the poster for being intellectually dishonest. I am not a fanatic of any religion, just the truth.

House Bill No. 17, also known as the proposed “Reproductive Health and Population Development Act of 2008,” will cover the following areas:

•information and access to natural and modern family planning;
•maternal, infant and child health and nutrition;
•promotion of breast feeding;
•prevention of abortion and management of post-abortion complications;
•adolescent and youth health; prevention and management of reproductive tract infections, HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases;
•elimination of violence against women; counseling on sexuality and sexual and reproductive health;
•treatment of breast and reproductive tract cancers;
•male involvement and participation in reproductive health;
•prevention and treatment of infertility; and
•reproductive health education for the youth.

The bill is controversial, as it is being opposed by the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is against the use of artificial contraceptives

There is nothing wrong with the bill. Its the Church’ stand which has been roundly rejected in Europe, US and most countries as well as by international development organizations that’s imputing flaw on it. And that stand is rammed down to the throats of Filipinos, Catholic or not.

too much fuss about the RH bill.it’s just a piece of legislation.and just like majority of bills passed into law,it’s bound to fail in the implementation phase.i’m sad that the issue is creating tension between church and government.

to you PH…naughty, naughty…and I like it. I wish I’m Santa, so I’ll know where you live. *wink*

I’m PRO-RH bill.

I’m a Catholic. I believe in God, but I seldom hear mass. Let’s just say that I’m a Catholic non-conformist (whatever that means). I lauded Carlos Celdran for his courage on what he did, I just wished he didn’t do it during mass. And I felt offended when I saw someone on TV lambasting (verbally) a priest. I know that the church sometimes were ridiculous, but please give them due respect. If we can’t respect them as priests, let us respect them as human beings.

Del, I suggest that you do further reading before you comment so you will not look like a fool. Withdrawal and masturbation are also not allowed by the catholic church. I’m not saying that I’m in agreement with and don’t practice these though, just correcting your wrong impression. :-)

Withdrawal and masturbation are not allowed by the Catholic Church. A non-practicing catholic as I am, I don’t follow these particular teachings of the church, meaning I practice withdrawal and I masturbate almost daily. Did I make myself clear now? :-)

excommunication. and while pia was talking about it and the web page was being shown on tv, one of the guests quipped something like, “ang galing nya, si heckler. ang galing nya, sino siya?”
and pia was quick to answer, “si loi, loi landicho.”
jc delos reyes & ricky carandang were among the guests, i forgot the 2 others.
haha!

i am pretty sure both sides mean well. both have the general public’s welfare in mind. it’s the extremists and abusers and those who will always find a way-around, to justify their own wrong deeds, that make any good intention look bad.

sa nagsabing stupid tong blog na to ito lang masasabi ko…
if this blog is stupid, and you read this blog then…..kayo na lang magdugtong ng logic. hehehe.
galing mo talaga idol. i dont think that statement is blasphemous, it’s just a reminder not to include His name on matters not appropriate tulad nung nagmention sa taas. (peace). keep it up may dagadag na namn ako sa mga quotable quotes collection ko. hehehe. continue heckling the philippines and the world. in the service of the filipino hecklers worldwide. lol

me too. i’d rather stick mine in the bumpers (does that make me a ‘bumper sticker’ PH?). i was told that the church’s acceptable position on copulation is the missionary only. i wonder if they would dare threaten violators with excommunication. imagine the empty pews…the absence of celebrants.

What a crappy, bigoted point of view you have here! We don’t care about your own president. We talk about ISSUES here. We support RH bill. Pnoy is just a staunch supporter like the rest of us. Go read RH bill then go back and comment about it.

Pupusta ka? The Catholic Church will still be here and a major religion of this country, long after you and I along with everybody in this forum are mere dusts in the wind. Ooooops, sorry you said “if” nga pala.
Maam, may I go out? :-)

About a year ago, we exchanged emails about your comments against the Church. You said, “Rest assured, I’ll be a lot more sensitive next time.” Maybe you forgot that you resolved to do that for the silent majority of your readers.

Why do many Filipinos oppose the RH Bill? There are many reasons, but one of them relates to the likelihood that abortions will also rise if the government allocates its health budget for contraception.

This view on the link between contraception and abortion was CONFIRMED in a WHO-funded 2003 study which was done (ironically) by the pro-choice research institute of Planned Parenthood. The study concluded that rising contraceptive use results in more abortions. This happens precisely in countries like ours where the “fertility rate” (number of births per woman) is declining.

So the anti-RH Bill view is not just based on religion. It doesn’t even have to be, if only we can accept that it’s a fallacy to say that more contraceptives will decrease the incidence of abortion.

Well, saglit lang.
Una, you have no right to object/oppose/agree/sympathize if you have no significant idea about the subject.

Pangalawa, when you’re reading, lots of body parts are functioning (and should function, and correctly): eyes, hands, tongue (less at first and wait until you’re done reading) heart and [to top them all] brain.

Pangatlo, opinion must be separated from fair judgment in terms of structure and approach. Opinion comes from different minds. Fair judgment accounts to the norms of every society. And both, shall be respected.

Panghuli. Poverty speaks out loud.

Konklusyon:
Family planning is not equivalent to abortion. Poverty does not sound like Church but Life. And Life means what: good shelter, food, clothes to wear, dignity, humility (not humiliation), job, funds (to support your daily needs), education and progress. And Life is what Filipinos need!

On Reproductive Health… In 1974, then U.S. Agriculture Secretary Earl L. Butz quipped at Pope Paul VI’s position on population control (in mock Italian accent): “”He no playa the game, he no maka the rules.”

Di ka naman siguro ikukulong kung di mo sinunod ang RH Bill right? In a nutshell it just provides a BETTER avenue for citizens to choose whatever they prefer in terms of their PERSONAL REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH.

PRO-CHOICE…if you want what is stipulated in the RH Bill..then go for it. If you believe what the Catholic church says is good, then go for it. At the end of the day everyone wants to have a choice and for us (I really believe this) the MAJORITY of Filipinos(regardless of religion) want the RH Bill and whatever is stated there to be part of our CHOICE.

The Catholic Church should stop the hypocricy…”studies show that increased use of contraceptives is proportional to a higher incidents of abortion (or something to that effect)” BULLCRAP!

Let the Government do its job, wag na maki alam ang Simbahang Katoliko..do your duty and guide your flock to the best of your abilities but NEVER deprive them of their RIGHT to choose what they think is best for their personal welfare and NOT FOR YOUR OWN SELFISH INTERESTS!

“AS CHINA’S population ages and the wages slowly rise, the government is becoming more concerned about who will take care of the elderly than about a destabilizing surge of young people unable to find jobs . . . . Experts worry that Beijing is unprepared for the sheer speed at which China will age. The United Nations predicts China’s working-age population will peak in 2015 and plunge by 23 percent by 2050.”

BRIC Thesis: Brazil Russia India China. By 2050 the combined economies of the BRICs could eclipse the combined economies of the current richest countries of the world. What do they have in common? Population! Newly advanced economic development leveraging their manpower. Instead of leveraging our numbers, the government wants to curb it. Uh huh… … …